The Central West AFL’s proposed two-tier system has been dealt a blow after the Young Saints announced they would be folding.

The club sat out the 2018 season as they didn’t have the numbers to form a full side, which came after the club followed the CWAFL into the single-tiered competition in 2016.

They formed a crucial pillar of the CWAFL’s proposal at the end of last season, which proffered a two-tiered competition with an 18-a-side Premier League for Orange, the two Bathurst sides and Dubbo, while Parkes, Young, Cowra and a development Bushrangers side would form the 16-a-side Country Cup. 

Young Saints president Geoff Harmer published a message on the Saints’ Facebook page last week saying the club is “no more”.

Harmer didn’t go into specifics about why the club has collapsed, but their removal from the competition throws the proposal into murky water after they were one of the four pillars of the Country Cup.

CWAFL development coordinator Casey White wouldn’t be drawn on if the switch to two tiers – which was rejected by clubs in October – had been set back by Young’s loss. 

“I haven’t spoken to the president down in Young so I’m not in a position to talk about that too much. I’ll call them up and see what their plans are,” he said.

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“[The proposal] obviously fell away for next season and we’ll have more discussions later in the year.” 

However, he said there were positive signs for Cowra to re-enter the competition after pulling the pin mid-way through the 2017 season. 

The club recently appointed Ben Rodin as senior coach, which White said was a “really good step in the right direction”. 

“I’m full of confidence they’ll get up for the season,” he said. 

White said there had been very little discussion about how to move forward towards growing the competition and said clubs would be coming together mid-way through the year to discuss the best ways to move forward. 

“We’ll be working with AFL NSW to try and work towards that five year plan, but it’s still in its infancy,” he said.

The fixtures are still being finalised as the final deadline for entering teams is still two weeks, but White confirmed the men’s season would start on April 6, with the women’s competition to kick off on April 27.